Okay so I fall asleep every night to an episode or two of Mai-Otome, and upon finishing the second episode, I decided I would take a look at the Extras option that it's in the Main Menu part. The first thing I saw was a title called... Mai-HiME Movie? <- With a question mark.

Curious, I clicked on it, only to see scenes from this Movie that I've never seen. Then at the end Mikoto calls the Mikoto-cat her brother, only to have him reply with something like... you've finally noticed. It says that this movie was to be in theaters nationwide, in the Autumn of 20006. <- Assuming that meant 2006.

Now, obviously this never happened? As I've never even heard of a movie for Mai-HiME before up until checking out this special feature. Was this some kind of April Fools prank at the time or was there going to be a Movie for Mai-HiME made, but it just never happened? I'd be curious to know what this means?

I think that was just a bit of a teaser to tack onto the end of the DVD or what have you.

Or, at least, that's what I thought. Right about now, well, 20006 might be a bit optimistic for getting any new Mai-stuff out. I'm sure that, what with several future dark ages and renaissances in the offing over the next 18 millennia, Sunrise can procrastinate for longer than that...

I think that was just a bit of a teaser to tack onto the end of the DVD or what have you.

Or, at least, that's what I thought. Right about now, well, 20006 might be a bit optimistic for getting any new Mai-stuff out. I'm sure that, what with several future dark ages and renaissances in the offing over the next 18 millennia, Sunrise can procrastinate for longer than that...

Aurg! That's what I thought... at least, that's the impression I got, seeing how it's now 2016, and that trailer to the Movie is at least 12 years old now lol. I think something like that should have been made though, I mean, why not? A Mai-HiME movie would have been a really nice addition to the series!

Break String SpinElf wrote:If I recall, it's called Otome no Inori and can be found on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3z9yK5LIk8.

Oh wow, just when I thought I had seen everything for Mai-HiME/Otome. That was a nice watch. It seemed Arika's virgo horoscope predicted that her fateful encounter would be Nina's lost Nina-cat! But it was a little unclear to me as to where this special fits in. If it's before Mai-Otome, then how is it that Nina and Arika envisioned themselves meeting once before? And if it's after Mai-Otome, then how could they have just been shown Garderobe for the first time?

ShadowMikoto wrote:Oh wow, just when I thought I had seen everything for Mai-HiME/Otome. That was a nice watch. It seemed Arika's virgo horoscope predicted that her fateful encounter would be Nina's lost Nina-cat! But it was a little unclear to me as to where this special fits in. If it's before Mai-Otome, then how is it that Nina and Arika envisioned themselves meeting once before? And if it's after Mai-Otome, then how could they have just been shown Garderobe for the first time?

Thanks for sharing that!

Interesting questions. My personal view is that the events at Fuuka Academy follow on from the end of Mai-HiME and are roughly contemporary with the Mai-HiME bluray special (Reito's spice-related comeuppance). More specifically, it appears to be following Arika after her blink-and-you'll-miss-her cameo at the end of Mai-HiME (though if that's a new year, wouldn't Mikoto be wearing the high school uniform? ).

As for the timeline, if we accept it as canon, it seems that Ers' wish to be with Arika & Nina again is fulfilled by bringing them all together back in time. How would this work? Well, we see a chibi Mashiro & Nagi at the end of the OVA. They appear to be deities or spirits of some sort (their older Mai-HiME counterparts would've just gone through the Gate of Valhalla). The submerged Crystal Dome on Earl also features prominently in the OVA and Arika's cameo in episode 26 of Mai-HiME takes place in front of the Fuuka counterpart. The Crystal Dome, which stands upon the site of an ancient tree associated with the prototype HiME Carnival, functions as something of an axis mundi as noted by Ruby in this post so Ers' wish could've been granted by enabling her to attend Fuuka Academy with Arika and stay at an earth version of Garderobe with Arika, the Nina cat and her owner Chun Mei, Nina's Mai-HiME doppelganger.

Sadly, we didn't get to see Laula, which would've been a nice touch after her appearance in the "movie trailer."

ShadowMikoto wrote:Oh wow, just when I thought I had seen everything for Mai-HiME/Otome. That was a nice watch. It seemed Arika's virgo horoscope predicted that her fateful encounter would be Nina's lost Nina-cat! But it was a little unclear to me as to where this special fits in. If it's before Mai-Otome, then how is it that Nina and Arika envisioned themselves meeting once before? And if it's after Mai-Otome, then how could they have just been shown Garderobe for the first time?

Thanks for sharing that!

Interesting questions. My personal view is that the events at Fuuka Academy follow on from the end of Mai-HiME and are roughly contemporary with the Mai-HiME bluray special (Reito's spice-related comeuppance). More specifically, it appears to be following Arika after her blink-and-you'll-miss-her cameo at the end of Mai-HiME (though if that's a new year, wouldn't Mikoto be wearing the high school uniform? ).

As for the timeline, if we accept it as canon, it seems that Ers' wish to be with Arika & Nina again is fulfilled by bringing them all together back in time. How would this work? Well, we see a chibi Mashiro & Nagi at the end of the OVA. They appear to be deities or spirits of some sort (their older Mai-HiME counterparts would've just gone through the Gate of Valhalla).

^ This is what confused me, I was thinking that these events appeared to be earlier on, or prior to that of the actual events of Mai-Otome. But that wouldn't make much sense, because according to Mai-Otome Arika and Nina had only met the first time... which then brings up what was said in the special. That Arika and Nina felt that they had some memories of meeting each other from their past... but then that wouldn't make much sense, because the whole introduction to Garderobe seemed to Arika and Er's first visit to it? Usually on places like MAL under each anime, special, OVA, or movie it will give a description as to where the placements of these specials belong. For instance, the one where Ribbon-chan wants to become an Otome, that is apparently an extension of the Mai-Otome anime, so it fits in right after the events of Mai-Otome.

ShadowMikoto wrote:I was thinking that these events appeared to be earlier on, or prior to that of the actual events of Mai-Otome. But that wouldn't make much sense, because according to Mai-Otome Arika and Nina had only met the first time... which then brings up what was said in the special. That Arika and Nina felt that they had some memories of meeting each other from their past... but then that wouldn't make much sense, because the whole introduction to Garderobe seemed to Arika and Er's first visit to it?

It's definitely odd. But it's not so much memories of meeting in the past as in the future. It's pretty hard to grasp but its as though Nina's profound wish to hang out with Arika & Ers again during Zwei, when she was in the Crystal Dome on Earl, was granted, only it was fulfilled in the past.Of course, the more common canon interpretation is that it was fulfilled immediately after she was transferred to the Black Valley after she & Nao encountered Yuna: she meets Arika of course and also encounters Ribbon-chan whose resemblance to Ers is pretty obvious."Hey Grandma's Grandma's Grandma!"

ShadowMikoto wrote:Usually on places like MAL under each anime, special, OVA, or movie it will give a description as to where the placements of these specials belong. For instance, the one where Ribbon-chan wants to become an Otome, that is apparently an extension of the Mai-Otome anime, so it fits in right after the events of Mai-Otome.

The Fuuka part of the action takes place a year after Mai-HiME: they're still building the bridge which was destroyed a year previously: -It could potentially be seen as setting the scene for the "movie," as the bridge appears to have been rebuilt in that: -Nice job namechecking the movie Elfi-chin. See? You don't always get completely off topic when you ramble on.

Of course, what exactly is the role of Garderobe and cat!Nina in all of this?

Well, the newly-built structure which Chun Mei calls Garderobe bears a superficial resemblance to the school on Earl, though I personally don't see it as the same building. The view from above does, however, resemble Garderobe Academy's insignia: -vs.So it's clearly at least a spiritual precursor.

The role of the Nina cat is also interesting, considering a feline by the same name and sharing a similar appearance has a role in setting in motion the events of O~S.ifr.No shit, Sherlock.

Anyway, suffice to say, I'm not sure about how canonical it is (is it Nina's dream after the battle with Yuna, or the timeline can be manipulated either way by the "gods" of the series, who appear to be Mashiro the chthonic goddess and Nagi the heavenly god?), though, given the focus on Arika at Fuuka Academy and the mention of the bridge, I suspect it could serve as a good introduction to the "movie" is someone wished to explore this scenario in a fanfic or something (because we can't all sit here waiting until 20006 curse you, mortality! Curse you!).

Anyway, sorry to prattle on without saying anything particularly worthwhile (or repeating what I said previously ), but the questions you raised really piqued my interest. I wanted to harvest a few screenshots and jot down a few ideas so they're here for reference.

ShadowMikoto wrote:I was thinking that these events appeared to be earlier on, or prior to that of the actual events of Mai-Otome. But that wouldn't make much sense, because according to Mai-Otome Arika and Nina had only met the first time... which then brings up what was said in the special. That Arika and Nina felt that they had some memories of meeting each other from their past... but then that wouldn't make much sense, because the whole introduction to Garderobe seemed to Arika and Er's first visit to it?

It's definitely odd. But it's not so much memories of meeting in the past as in the future. It's pretty hard to grasp but its as though Nina's profound wish to hang out with Arika & Ers again during Zwei, when she was in the Crystal Dome on Earl, was granted, only it was fulfilled in the past.Of course, the more common canon interpretation is that it was fulfilled immediately after she was transferred to the Black Valley after she & Nao encountered Yuna: she meets Arika of course and also encounters Ribbon-chan whose resemblance to Ers is pretty obvious."Hey Grandma's Grandma's Grandma!"

ShadowMikoto wrote:Usually on places like MAL under each anime, special, OVA, or movie it will give a description as to where the placements of these specials belong. For instance, the one where Ribbon-chan wants to become an Otome, that is apparently an extension of the Mai-Otome anime, so it fits in right after the events of Mai-Otome.

The Fuuka part of the action takes place a year after Mai-HiME: they're still building the bridge which was destroyed a year previously: -It could potentially be seen as setting the scene for the "movie," as the bridge appears to have been rebuilt in that: -Nice job namechecking the movie Elfi-chin. See? You don't always get completely off topic when you ramble on.

Of course, what exactly is the role of Garderobe and cat!Nina in all of this?

Well, the newly-built structure which Chun Mei calls Garderobe bears a superficial resemblance to the school on Earl, though I personally don't see it as the same building. The view from above does, however, resemble Garderobe Academy's insignia: -vs.So it's clearly at least a spiritual precursor.

The role of the Nina cat is also interesting, considering a feline by the same name and sharing a similar appearance has a role in setting in motion the events of O~S.ifr.No shit, Sherlock.

Anyway, suffice to say, I'm not sure about how canonical it is (is it Nina's dream after the battle with Yuna, or the timeline can be manipulated either way by the "gods" of the series, who appear to be Mashiro the chthonic goddess and Nagi the heavenly god?), though, given the focus on Arika at Fuuka Academy and the mention of the bridge, I suspect it could serve as a good introduction to the "movie" is someone wished to explore this scenario in a fanfic or something (because we can't all sit here waiting until 20006 curse you, mortality! Curse you!).

Anyway, sorry to prattle on without saying anything particularly worthwhile (or repeating what I said previously ), but the questions you raised really piqued my interest. I wanted to harvest a few screenshots and jot down a few ideas so they're here for reference.

Wow so much insightful information there! Thanks for that. I agree that slight alterations, such as the bridge being completed may advance the kinds of changes that would make room for something like a movie. There are loose ends, like the building being constructed differently, as you pointed out. One seemed to have a circular design while the inwards all seemed to have been squared. Yet, that could be explained if the inner dimensions of the circle were all boxed. Such as a rectangular design consisting within a circular model.

The introduction to the Nina Cat is also an opening message, and quite welcoming at that, for a movie. Or at least another OVA that centers such a character within it.

Overall the scenes you added to your post was quite innovative. I would never remember where those scenes were in the episode order even if I did remember those scenes vividly from the anime itself. Goes to show that you have something like a photographic memory!

Yes, we can't wait around till 20006, unfortunately. And the creators of Mai-Hime/Otome know that, so I'd imagine they will bring something out for the series, like a movie, within this generation if anything truly needs to be furthered in the actual series. :3

ShadowMikoto wrote:The introduction to the Nina Cat is also an opening message, and quite welcoming at that, for a movie. Or at least another OVA that centers such a character within it.

With this in mind, it might be interesting to brainstorm ideas for a possible movie or "Mai-HiME Zewi" OVA series. The Arika as villain idea is a pretty good one, though I just feel that there may be another couple of scenarios which might work.

Yuna's originsOne interesting thing to note from Mai-Otome Zewi is that Nagi seems to have some knowledge of the entity known as Yuna. Yuna herself may have some connection with the HiME.

Nagi's knowledge would presumably come from the Searrs-marked library in Altai where Nina & Nao encounter Yuna, so dates to the Colonisation Age. Could this have been transported from earth?

Obviously, this would be something of a retread of Mai-Otome Zewi, so it's on the unlikely side. Nevertheless, it'd be interesting to see how this would play out in the HiME milieu.

The Searrs FoundationOne other idea which might have some purchase would be around the Searrs Foundation. With First District out of the way, there's little to stop them from trying to get their mitts on the secrets of the Land of Fuuka. They could buy off teachers to work for them in their investigation rather than launching a full-scale invasion (though, with no HiME capable of powering up to stop them, what would?).

Also, they never did manage to track down that troublesome android...

Just a few thoughts. If anyone else has any other, better ideas, it'd be interesting to hear them.